Moviegoers are still “Taken” at the Box Office

The action sequel Taken 2 killed the competition, literally, this weekend with a giant $50 million opening. That blew past the already loft heights of the surprise hit from two years ago that re-christened Liam Neeson as an action star. The film also opened big internationally and should have a nice run in the weeks ahead…. Not opening well against it was Tim Burton’s well-reviewed animated film Frankenweenie which took in a lackluster $11.5 million for fifth place behind the animated hit Hotel Transylvania (which held up nicely), the wide expansion of the delightfully hilarious Pitch Perfect (which has now already made a profit), and the well-liked action film Looper. We’ll see if Frankenweenie can pull in the family audience in the weeks ahead as we lead up to Halloween, but I wouldn’t count on it…. In the meantime, take a look at the new top ten below and head to Box Office Mojo here for more info and numbers.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N Taken 2 Fox $50,000,000 – 3,661 – $13,657 $50,000,000 $45 1
2 1 Hotel Transylvania Sony $26,300,000 -38.1% 3,352 +3 $7,846 $76,000,000 $85 2
3 6 Pitch Perfect Uni. $14,700,000 +185.5% 2,770 +2,435 $5,307 $21,600,000 $17 2
4 2 Looper TriS $12,200,000 -41.4% 2,993 +1 $4,076 $40,300,000 $30 2
5 N Frankenweenie BV $11,500,000 – 3,005 – $3,827 $11,500,000 $39 1
6 3 End of Watch ORF $4,000,000 -48.8% 2,370 -410 $1,688 $32,846,000 $7 3
7 4 Trouble with the Curve WB $3,870,000 -46.8% 3,003 -209 $1,289 $29,710,000 – 3
8 5 House at the End of The Street Rela. $3,698,000 -48.1% 2,720 -363 $1,360 $27,531,000 $10 3
9 9 The Master Wein. $1,840,000 -31.4% 864 +8 $2,130 $12,315,000 – 4
10 7 Finding Nemo (3D) BV $1,555,000 -61.5% 1,746 -893 $891 $38,969,000 – 4

The Grey surprises at the Box Office

In another decent weekend at the box office, two films did better than expected while the Oscar nominations only gave a little boost to the big competitors. However, grosses were up overall versus last year as the new action drama The Grey, starring Liam Neeson, opened with a surprising $ 20 million. It was the first of three new entries in the top ten. Opening in third with $ 11.7 million was Katherine Heigl’s poorly reviewed action comedy One for the Money which many assumed was dead in the water before it even hit theaters. That was more the case for the third opener, the crime thriller Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington, as it only totaled $8.3 million…. Looking at the films with multiple Oscar noms, The Descendants and The Artist improved the most as they added extra theaters. For more on their grosses and all the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N The Grey ORF $20,000,000 – 3,185 – $6,279 $20,000,000 – 1
2 1 Underworld Awakening SGem $12,500,000 -50.6% 3,078 – $4,061 $45,126,000 $70 2
3 N One For the Money LGF $11,750,000 – 2,737 – $4,293 $11,750,000 – 1
4 2 Red Tails Fox $10,400,000 -44.6% 2,573 +61 $4,042 $33,780,000 $58 2
5 N Man on a Ledge Sum. $8,300,000 – 2,998 – $2,769 $8,300,000 – 1
6 4 Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close WB $7,145,000 -28.9% 2,630 – $2,717 $21,106,000 – 6
7 16 The Descendants FoxS $6,550,000 +176.1% 2,001 +1,441 $3,273 $58,848,000 – 11
8 3 Contraband Uni. $6,500,000 -46.0% 2,650 -220 $2,453 $56,400,000 $25 3
9 5 Beauty and the Beast (3D) BV $5,345,000 -39.1% 2,145 -480 $2,492 $41,147,000 – 3
10 6 Haywire Rela. $4,000,000 -52.5% 2,441 +2 $1,639 $15,279,000 $23 2

First Look~ The Dark Knight Rises!

If any of you saw Harry Potter over the weekend (and that’s probably all of you, me too), you might have seen the trailer for the most anticipated film of the year. However, the year I’m speaking of is 2012 and the film is The Dark Knight Rises, the third picture in Christopher Nolan’s incredible Batman trilogy. There aren’t too many clues given in the trailer, but it’s still all kinds of awesome as we get glimpses of Oscar winner Chrstian Bale, Oscar nominee Gary Oldman and Tom Hardy (Inception) who plays new baddie Bane. Unfortunately, there are no glimpses of returnee stars Oscar nominee Liam Neeson and Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine or newbies Oscar winner Marion Cottillard, Golden Globe nominee Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or Oscar nominee Anne Hathaway who’s taking on the role of Catwoman! Nonetheless, it looks great and I, for one, can’t wait til next summer. In the meantime, check out the new trailer below.

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

Liam takes out the Teens and Big Momma at the Box Office

Liam Neeson proved his box office metal this weekend as his new thriller Unknown hit the top of the charts with $25.6 million over the long President’s day weekend. He was able to out muscle the hot teens of I Am Number 4 which opened in third at $22.6 million (somewhat under expectations) and Martin Lawrence’s Big Momma sequel, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son which took in $19 million. Those were all decent debuts, but word of mouth on all of them is lackluster, so we’ll see how they hold up in the coming weeks…. One film with great word of mouth is the animated comedy Gnomeo & Juliet which only dropped 2% in its second week to grab 2nd place with $24.8 million and a total of $55.8 million so far. Faring worse was the second week Justin Bieber’s Never Say Never which plummeted 44 % despite the 4 day weekend. Take a look at the new top ten below which also saw a decent hold for the atrocious Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It and for all your box office needs, head to Box Office Mojo here.

TW	LW	Title (click to view)	Studio	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theater Count / Change		Average	Total Gross	Budget*	Week #
1	N	Unknown	WB	$25,620,000	-	3,043	-	$8,419	$25,620,000	$30	1
2	3	Gnomeo and Juliet	BV	$24,823,000	-2.1%	3,014	+20	$8,236	$55,843,000	-	2
3	N	I Am Number Four	BV	$22,600,000	-	3,154	-	$7,166	$22,600,000	$60	1
4	1	Just Go With It	Sony	$21,700,000	-28.9%	3,548	-	$6,116	$64,256,000	$80	2
5	N	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	Fox	$19,000,000	-	2,821	-	$6,735	$19,000,000	$32	1
6	2	Justin Bieber: Never Say Never	Par.	$16,500,000	-44.1%	3,118	+13	$5,292	$51,373,000	$13	2
7	6	The King’s Speech	Wein.	$7,938,000	+9.8%	2,086	-177	$3,805	$104,650,000	$15	13
8	5	The Roommate	SGem	$4,500,000	-44.6%	2,160	-374	$2,083	$33,093,000	$16	3
9	4	The Eagle	Focus	$4,317,000	-50.3%	2,296	-	$1,880	$15,800,000	$25	2
10	7	No Strings Attached	Par.	$3,725,000	-35.9%	1,966	-790	$1,895	$66,639,000	$25	5

Rihanna is Ready to Rule the Charts Again!

Did you know that Rihanna has had seven # 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart? Did you also know she’s had another eight top 10 hits on that chart? If you just look at the pop charts her numbers get even better and it looks like she’s about to grab another chart topper with her brand new single “Only Girl in the World” which debuted on iTunes yesterday and is already at the summit. With these strong sales for the dance single, watch for the track to fight Katy Perry (“Teenage Dream”) and Bruno Mars (“Just the Way You Are”) for # 1 on next week’s Hot 100. If she hits the peak, she’ll have back to back chart leaders following her current smash with Eminem ”Love the Way You Lie” which lead for 6 weeks. That’s quite an accomplishment for an artist who only debuted in 2005. Take a look at Rihanna’s # 1 songs below and watch for her new album to drop in November. She’s also venturing on an acting career with a part in the new big budget action film Battleship with Liam Neeson and Alexander Saarsgard. Finally, hear her new and incredibly awesome hit “Only Girl in the World” below.

~Rihanna’s # 1 Hits:
“S.O.S.”
“Umbrella” (with Jay Z)
“Take a Bow”
“Disturbia”
“Live Your Life” (with T.I.)
“Rude Boy”
“Love the Way You Lie” (with Eminem)

~Her other top 10′s include: “Pon de Replay”, “If It’s Lovin’ that You Want”, “Unfaithful”, “Don’t Stop the Music”, “Hard”, “Russian Roulette”, “Hate that I Love You” (with NeYo), “Run This Town” (with Jay Z & Kanye West).
~And here are her remaining top 40 hits: “Break It Off”, “Shut Up and Drive”, “Rehab”, and “Rockstar 101″

Rihanna “Only Girl in the World”